Ofcom today announces the award of a new FM local commercial radio licence for Cornwall .
By the closing date of 8 December 2004, Ofcom received eight applications for the Cornwall licence. After giving careful consideration to each of the applications submitted, the Ofcom Radio Licensing Committee has decided to award the licence to:
Atlantic FM, owned by Atlantic Broadcasting Ltd., which will provide a full service station specifically for Cornwall , featuring locally-focused news, information and speech content mixed with adult-oriented popular music for a broad audience with particular appeal for listeners aged 25-54.
The licence is for a service designed to cover as much of the county of Cornwall as possible. The area has an adult population (aged 15+) of around 410,000. However, the exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical characteristics.
Ofcom expects Atlantic FM to begin broadcasting at the earliest opportunity and no later than two years from this award date.
Ofcom will publish a statement setting out the key determining factors for the award of this licence shortly.
The licence will be issued for a twelve year period.